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After a week of fierce competition, the accolade of the heftiest bear has gone to Backpack.
Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears. Backpack has emerged victorious as this year's Fat Bear Week champion, the heftiest bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The nonprofit running the longstanding contest announced that the bear, known for his pacifist nature, was declared the winner on Wednesday AEST with more than 100,000 votes, narrowly beating Bear 910 with just over 50 per cent of the poll. The contest, which is in its 12th year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state's south-west corner toward the Aleutian Islands.
Fat Bear Week was established in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies. Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox. He was handily defeated in the first round of competition this year by Bucky, who went on to lose a face-off against Backpack, known officially as Bear 89.
All voting is done online, and the public can watch the bears on explore.org's livestream cameras before deciding on their favourite. This group of bears gorges itself on the abundant salmon that return to the Brooks River in Katmai National Park from late June. It's there that they can stuff themselves to accumulate the fat reserves they will need to survive the winter.
Backpack is the son of former Fat Bear Week champion Holly, who introduced him to the Brooks River when he was a first-year cub in 2006. Fans cheered on Backpack on Instagram, noting his lineage and reputation as a gentle giant.
"Unlike many large adult male bears, Backpack hasn't shown much aggression toward his competitors," his contestant profile reads. Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.
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89 Backpack Edges Out 910 in Close Fat Bear Week FinaleThe annual online popularity contest for brown bears in Alaska's Katmai National Park concluded with a narrow victory for bear 89 Backpack over 910, highlighting the event's origins and the bears' preparation for winter hibernation.
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